


Room for Two

by olddarkmachine



Series: 12 Days of ODM [5]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-13 23:42:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12995085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olddarkmachine/pseuds/olddarkmachine
Summary: “Calm down, Gajeel,” Levy said, not even bothering to look up at the dragon slayer that stood frozen beside her. That was probably for the best, given the way he could feel his cheeks warming with fire as he stared at the sight before them.“It really isn’t that big of a deal,” she continued, walking further into the room and dropping her bag on the ground. The sound of its heavy thud mixed with the sound of the blood as it rushed in his ears. Gajeel wasn’t sure what he had done to find himself on the business end of karma, with his very own Hell laying before him just on the other side of the room that he stood in.That Hell, was a plush, queen size bed situated all on its own in the corner.





	Room for Two

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to: My Gajevy Anon
> 
> Prompt: Gajeel and Levy are on a job when they end up having to share a bed.

“Calm down, Gajeel,” Levy said, not even bothering to look up at the dragon slayer that stood frozen beside her. That was probably for the best, given the way he could feel his cheeks warming with fire as he stared at the sight before them. 

 

“It really isn’t that big of a deal,” she continued, walking further into the room and dropping her bag on the ground. The sound of its heavy thud mixed with the sound of the blood as it rushed in his ears. Gajeel wasn’t sure what he had done to find himself on the business end of karma, with his very own Hell laying before him just on the other side of the room that he stood in.

 

That Hell, was a plush, queen size bed situated all on its own in the corner.

 

“I won’t take up too much space, I swear,” the bluenette said, throwing a smile over her shoulder that sent an electric current fizzing through his veins. The searing heat of the lightning started a raging fire in his gut as he watched Levy drag her fingers through her hair, pulling its length up into a messy ponytail at the top of her head. Even that small movement had sent her scent swirling through the air of the room, tickling his senses with the softest shades of lavender and ink. He felt the dragon in his chest shifting as the smell urged it towards wakefulness. 

 

Gajeel watched in mild panic as she extended her arms high above her head, a small sound of satisfaction falling from her mouth as her spine popped and realigned before she threw herself onto the bed. The soft groan of the bed protesting against the sudden movement caused the very breath to catch in his throat, creating a noise caught somewhere between a moan and a whine. Even to his own ears, it sounded like a sick sound, that made her head snap up to look at him, eyebrows shooting up towards her hairline.

 

“Are you feeling okay?” She asked, eyes softening as they dragged over him in search of anything that would have made him anything but fine. Only, her intrusive stare only made matters worse as he squirmed under the hard line of her eyes. With the way her eyes sparkled, he was certain she could hear the way his heart was hammering against his chest, attempting to break itself free of its cage of bone and muscle. It was the only explanation as to why the corner of her mouth lifted upwards into a sweet smile as her gaze made its way back up to meet his from her perch on the only bed in the room.

 

If she kept looking at him like that, he would most certainly not be okay.

 

***

 

“And you’re sure there isn’t any other room?” Gajeel asked, doing his best to bite back the growl that was rumbling deep in his chest as he stared down the portly innkeeper before him. 

 

It had been his own stupid mistake that had gotten him into this mess in the first place, a fact the iron dragon slayer was all too aware of, which only caused his misplaced aggravations to skyrocket as he stood at the man’s mercy. The innkeeper stood a whole head shorter than Gajeel, looking up at him with muddy eyes and a ruddy complexion in silence as if he was considering what options the man before him had. With any luck, he would tell Gajeel that he had forgotten about one two bedroom lodge that he would be happy to set them up with.

 

“Nope, only had the one, and you got it already.”

 

It turned out, he didn’t have any luck at all. Though he really shouldn’t have been surprised. Luck had left him as soon as he and Levy had left Magnolia, carried on the wind as they’d traveled passed the next town over. His bad luck had been evident when their seemingly easy job of clearing out some celestial pet problem had quickly turned into a battle for their lives with oversized, carnivorous beetles. 

 

The inn was supposed to be the first bit of luck that they had since going on what he was sure was a cursed job. Gajeel and Levy were supposed to be able to find some form of comfort in a room with a hot shower and two very plush beds. 

 

Apparently “a room for two” didn’t automatically translate into a room with two beds.

 

If Gajeel was being honest, it may not have been so bad if he hadn’t, at some point, realized just how beautiful Levy was. He couldn’t even pinpoint the exact moment that the mere sight of her started to press acid soaked cotton into the back of his ribcage, his affections growing sometime between when she’d forgiven him for all he had done and the moment he’d looked up to see her standing atop one of those giant beetles with a triumphant smile stretched across her face.

 

Levy had bewitched him before he had even realized what was happening, and by the time he had caught on, it had been too late.

 

Now, Gajeel couldn’t even handle seeing her laying across the solitary bed of the room, book open before her on the covers as she read, bottom lip sucked between her teeth as she got lost amongst the words. She didn’t even notice as he slipped out of the room, muttering an excuse so lowly that even if she had been paying attention, she wouldn’t have heard it. 

 

What Gajeel had really needed, was a moment to collect his thoughts and focus on anything other than the blue haired woman laying in what would be his bed for the night. Anything to keep his mind from conjuring the sight of Levy’s plump pink lip as she’d sunk her own teeth into the soft flesh. Had to do something to think of anything other than what that lip would taste like.

 

Anything to stop himself from imagining how she would feel wrapped in his arms.

 

“You said room for two,” the innkeeper’s thickly accented voice cut through his unwelcome thoughts. “I give you room for two. It’s a queen.”

 

Gajeel swallowed back a loud, exasperated moan as he pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger as he mentally counted backwards from 10 like Levy had told him to when he needed to get his anger under control. For a brief moment, he wondered if there would be a way to invoke a lightning strike that would take him out. He was an iron dragon slayer, it wouldn’t be hard to make himself a lightning rod.

 

“Why wouldn’t you want to share with that beautiful woman? She looks at you like she wouldn’t mind sharing.”

 

His eyes flew open, his hard cut jewel glare hardening as he stared at the man, attempting to catch his breath as it hitched at the words. 

 

_She looks at you like she doesn’t mind sharing._

 

The man was wrong, and insinuating as much was dangerous for Gajeel and his psyche. Levy would never look at him like that. She had forgiven him, but she would never think of him as anything more than a friend. He had come to terms with that fact a long time ago, had resigned himself to solemnly protecting her and standing at her side as a companion because it was more than he deserved already. But the innkeeper’s words were water to a man lost in the desert, offered to Gajeel like the most tantalizing offering.

 

No. Gajeel knew better. Levy could never like someone like him, and he just had to respect that. With a resigned sigh, he dropped his hand, placing it instead on the counter that separated him from the man as he leant towards him.

 

“Do you have a cot?” His words were strained under the weight of his swirling emotions. The question was his last resort. A final effort to offer some minor relief to the situation. Dread filled the pit of his stomach as the innkeeper mirrored his posture, placing his palm flat on the wooden counter and using it as leverage to push himself up closer to Gajeel’s eye level. If he didn’t know better, he would swear he saw a sinister glint in the man’s eyes.

 

“Nope,” his lips popped over the end of the word that tore a hole through his last hope. “You have room for two.”

 

***

 

Defeat tasted bitter and sharp on Gajeel’s tongue as he stood before the fogged up mirror in the bathroom, his hair damp and sticking to the back of his neck while he glared at his reflection. When he’d returned to their room, clutching nothing but the innkeeper’s words within his fists, he’d been greeted by Levy’s bright smile as she’d looked up at him from her new position on her back on the bed. She looked completely at ease with her book held above her and legs stretched out. A small sliver of her hipbone peeked out over the top of her shorts where her shirt had pulled up slightly when she’d rearranged herself.

 

Deep in his chest, the dragon woke, letting out a piercing roar that reverberated through his spine. 

 

It took all of 15 seconds before he’d managed to gather his senses again, only vaguely aware of the hum of her voice as she asked if he’d found what he’d been looking for.

 

His dragon beat against his sternum as it cried out.

 

_You. It’s you. It’s always been you._

 

“No, Shrimp, but I guess it isn’t shocking they wouldn’t have a stock of iron,” he had said instead, the lie sounding almost as transparent as he felt with her golden eyes carving trails over his body. It had taken everything he had to pull himself from where he stood frozen under her roaming gaze, quickly announcing that he was going to take a shower and not sticking around long enough to hear her muttered okay.

 

The heat of the water had done wonders for his thoughts as the burning rivulets washed away the weighted thoughts and dissipated them momentarily with the steam that had clung to the surfaces of the bathroom.

 

All he had to do was make it through one night. Gajeel could do that. 

 

His thin veil of bravado carried him from the room and into the bedroom, passed Levy, who was already tucked into the bed with her curling blue hair splayed over her pillow. Had fueled his movements as he’d grabbed a blanket from the closet and one of the pillows from the bed, ignoring the eyes that watched him curiously. That very thin bravado even got him setup with a makeshift pallet on the ground on the opposite end of the room from the bed.

 

Yes. Gajeel could make it through one night.

 

“Gajeel,” Levy sighed, sitting up in the bed, the blanket falling away to show her oversized sleep shirt that fell off one of her freckled shoulders. Her scent wafted through the room again as her mouth downturned. “Get in the damn bed.”

 

Or maybe, he couldn’t.

 

“It’s okay, Shorty, I’ll be fine here. Ya don’t have to—” he started, trying to look anywhere else that wasn’t the scowling woman before him. 

 

“Stop. I don’t _have_ to,” she said, emphasizing the penultimate word. “I want to. Now get in the damn bed.”

 

Then, for good measure, she threw the edge of the blanket back, baring a spot for her as she scooted further to the right side of the bed. 

 

_She looks at you like she doesn’t mind sharing._

 

A war waged between his lungs as he tried to fight down the dragon that had rammed itself against his insides in an attempt to get free. He had lost the fight the moment she’d said his name, and yet he continued to try and push down the feeling that was creating a supernova in his chest. Heat and lightning burnt his nerve endings as she continued to stare at him with her hard, golden gaze. 

 

Time stretched as she waited, and if she hadn’t patted the bed deftly after a moment’s pause, Gajeel might have thought it had frozen entirely. Finally, he nodded, pushing himself off the ground and making his way to the bed where he dropped the pillow into the empty space before joining it. 

 

“Thanks,” he said gruffly, trying to ignore the way his cheeks warmed at the proximity. There was something about the night that gave her an almost ethereal glow, her skin lily white as she watched him closely as if she expected him to say something else before she finally sighed and fell back into her pillow, turning her back to him. 

 

“Stupid Gajeel,” she huffed softly, no actual malice in her tone. “It’s not a big deal.”

 

Only, it was. The dragon slayer had gone through great lengths to keep his feelings to himself. To hide them away from the woman that had pulled the affection from him when he hadn’t even realized he was capable of such emotions. Now, lying beside her, his defenses threatened to break as all he could think about was how it would feel to have her sleeping in his arms. The very thought sent his heart ricocheting around the cage of his chest as the dragon urged him to wrap himself around her. To protect her in their shared nest, even if it was only temporary.

 

He was all too aware of the warmth rolling off her skin in waves as he listened to her breaths even out into the soft, steady cadence of sleep. In the silence, Gajeel let himself count the consistent inhales and exhales, timing his own breathing with the rhythm until he finally felt his heart rate slow. 

 

Levy’s presence washed over him like the incoming tide, her ease cresting over him in waves until he felt a calm of his own for the first time since they’d found the room had only the one bed. Well, since he had realized there was only one bed rather. Levy hadn’t seemed to care, taking it in stride, even seeming to find some sort of humor in it, as was apparent in the small smile that had tugged the corners of her lips upwards up the entire evening. If he hadn’t known better, he might have thought maybe there was something to the old innkeeper’s proclamation.

 

_She looks at you like she doesn’t mind sharing._

 

Of course, he would never be that lucky.

 

Lost deep within his own thoughts, Gajeel missed the way Levy shift in her sleep until he felt an arm curling over the plains of his waist, trapping his arm beneath her as she nestled her nose into his side. He felt his heart stop beating altogether before kicking back in at triple time, so loud and fast he was certain it would waken her with its insistent thrumming against her cheek.

 

Instead, she sighed contentedly, tightening her arm slightly as she pulled herself closer into his side. 

 

“Gajeel,” she whispered, his name a mere exhale that danced over his skin with the soft brush of her lips. The heat of her skin burned against him as he tried to hold still, not wanting to destroy the moment that had effectively set his brain into a nosedive. A low, needy sound dragged from her as she tried to wiggle closer, her weight pressing against his arm until he gently pulled it free, removing the only obstacle that kept her from slotting herself fully against him. Cheeks warming at the pleased noise she made, he wrapped his arm around her, reveling in the way her skin felt pressed against his own. Lavender and ink tickled his nose as his eyes grew heavy with the weight of their combined warmth and his contentment.

 

It was with one final thought and a small smile on his lips that Gajeel finally slipped into sleep.

 

_In the morning, he would have to tell the innkeeper that he had been right. It was just enough room for two._

 

*******************************


End file.
